Last month, Amy Robach warily agreed to receive a mammogram on Good Morning America. Yesterday, the 40-year-old anchor revealed that the screening detected signs of breast cancer, and possibly saved her life.

In her blog post, Robach recounts how she was initially hesitant when her producer asked her to get a mammogram on live TV. "For the past 20 years, sadly, a large part of my job deals in tragedy—other peoples' tragedies—but never my own," wrote Robach. "That day, when I was asked to do something I really didn't want to do, something I had put off for more than a year, I had no way of knowing that I was in a life-or-death situation."

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Not long after the screening, Robach received additional scans and a whirlwind of tests. "Doctors move quickly when they're concerned," she said. "Finally, the diagnosis that's still hard for me to say out loud: I have breast cancer." Robach said on Good Morning America that she has decided to treat the cancer aggressively. This Thursday, she is scheduled to undergo a double mastectomy.

"While everyone who gets cancer is clearly unlucky, I got lucky by catching it early, and there are so many people to thank for making sure I did," she wrote. "Every producer, every person who urged me to do this, changed my trajectory."

According to an ABC spokesperson, the mom of five will be taking a leave of absence. Her return date has not been determined.

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